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Winter 2021
message
The magazine for telecom insiders
CELTIC News 2/2021
The Road
to 6G
The Kennedy perspective
The old dog learns
new tricks
Events
5G-VINNI roundtables
on TelecomTV
A bit beyond
How AI machines are
becoming inventors
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Subhead
Join the Industry-Driven Research
Programme for a Smart Connected World
CELTIC-NEXT Call for Project Proposals – Deadline: 14th of April 2022
Do not miss the opportunity to participate in CELTIC-NEXT, the industry-driven
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2 Eurescom message Winter 2021
EDITORIAL
Dear readers,
While 5G networks are still being deployed, work exclusive cover theme interview, which follows an the latest release of the 5G PPP white paper on
on 6G, the sixth generation of mobile communi- article by Eurescom message editor Anastasius 5G architecture and the new ENISA threat land-
cation technologies, has already begun. Will 6G Gavras on global initiatives towards 6G. In the scape report. Finally, in the latest “A bit beyond”
just be an evolutionary update of 5G? Or will it next article, an author team from the ARIADNE article you can learn about AI machines becom-
achieve a new innovation level in connecting project share their insights on Reconfigurable In- ing inventors.
people, robots and things? Researchers all over telligent Surfaces for 6G. In the final article of the One comment on our own behalf: the print
the world have started to explore these and more cover theme, Yue Zhang from the University of edition of this issue of Eurescom message is
questions along the road towards 6G. Leicester presents the technological vision of the printed on recycled paper certified by the Forest
In this issue of Eurescom message, we provide 6G BRAINS project. Stewardship Council (FSC). This reflects our
a glimpse on what is done in Europe to move to- This edition of Eurescom message also in- commitment to the sustainable use of natural
wards 6G. We present selected research and in- cludes a variety of further articles on different, resources.
novation projects that are already working on ICT-related topics. See, for example, the new My editorial colleagues and I hope you will find
different technological aspects that may later opinion article by Eurescom director David Ken- value in this edition of Eurescom message, and
become parts of the 6G standard. nedy on the challenges of personally dealing with we would appreciate your comments on the
In the first article of the cover theme, ubiquitous data collection in his column “The current issue as well as suggestions for future
Eurescom message editor Uwe Herzog gives an Kennedy Perspective”. Under “Events”, we report issues. Enjoy reading our magazine.
overview on activities and concepts currently be- about two interesting virtual events – the IEEE
ing explored on the road to 6G. The next article International Symposium on Broadband Multi-
by the Head of Nokia Standards, Peter Merz, media Systems and Broadcasting and the round- Milon Gupta
presents the EU flagship project on 6G, Hexa-X. tables of the 5G-VINNI project on TelecomTV. See Editor-in-chief
Peter Merz is also the interview partner in our also our “News in brief” section, which features
Cover image: © Adobe Stock
Eurescom message Winter 2021 3
EVENTS CALENDAR | SNAPSHOT
Headline
EVENTS CALENDAR
Subhead
7 – 11 December 2021 28 February – 3 March 2022
IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM MWC Barcelona 2022
2021) Barcelona, Spain
Madrid, Spain https://www.mwcbarcelona.com
https://globecom2021.ieee-globecom.org
7 – 10 March 2022
8 – 11 January 2022 25th Conference on Innovation in Clouds, Internet
IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking and Networks (ICIN 2022)
Conference (CCNC 2022) Paris, France (Hybrid Conference)
Virtual Conference https://www.icin-conference.org
https://ccnc2022.ieee-ccnc.org
6 – 10 June 2022
2022 EuCNC & 6G Summit
Grenoble, France
https://www.eucnc.eu
SNAPSHOT
CHARITY project meeting in Heidelberg
The CHARITY project meeting in Heidelberg, CHARITY partners, 9 months after the project Further information
Germany on 14-15 October 2021 was the first had started. The photo shows Antonis Protop- Further information about the CHARITY project
in-person project meeting organised by saltis from ORamaVR demonstrating CHARI- is available at https://charity-project.eu
Eurescom since the Corona pandemic spread TY’s virtual-reality based medical training use
across Europe more than 1.5 years earlier. It case.
was also the first in-person encounter of the
4 Eurescom message Winter 2021
CONTENTS
Contents
3
The Road
Editorial
to 6G
4 Events calendar
4 Snapshot
THE KENNEDY PERSPECTIVE
6 The old dog learns new tricks
COVER THEME: THE ROAD TO 6G
7 The road to 6G – An overview
Hexa-X and the values of 6G – The European Union’s flagship
8 project on 6G
AI-driven ubiquitous networks for massive machine connections –
9 The 6G BRAINS project vision
11 Global initiatives towards 6G – A review of the current status
Commercial 6G launch expected by 2030 – Interview with
12 Peter Merz from Nokia
Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for 6G – Innovative wireless
13 network solutions from the ARIADNE project
EVENTS
5G footprint in broadcast technology – IEEE International
14 Symposium on Broadband Multimedia Systems and Broadcasting
5G-VINNI project on TelecomTV – Roundtables about uses cases
15 and network slicing
NEWS IN BRIEF
4th release of 5G PPP white paper on 5G architecture published ++
16 ENISA threat landscape report highlights surge in cybercrime
A BIT BEYOND
18 Invented by DABUS – How AI machines are becoming inventors
Imprint
Eurescom message, Winter 2021
ISSN 1618-5196 (print edition)
ISSN 1618-520X (Internet edition)
Editors: Milon Gupta (editor-in-chief), Anastasius Gavras, Uwe Herzog
Submissions are welcome, including proposals for articles and complete articles, but we reserve the right to edit. If you would like to contribute, or send any
comments, please contact:
Eurescom message · Wieblinger Weg 19/4 · 69123 Heidelberg, Germany · Phone: +49 6221 989–0 · Fax: +49 6221 989–209 · E-mail: message@eurescom.eu
Advertising: Luitgard Hauer, phone: +49 6221 989–405, e-mail: hauer@eurescom.eu
Eurescom message is published twice a year. Eurescom message on the Web: http://www.eurescom.eu/message
Data Protection Declaration: https://www.eurescom.eu/data-protection-declaration.html
© 2021 Eurescom GmbH. No reproduction is permitted in whole or part without the express consent of Eurescom.
Eurescom message Winter 2021 5
T H E K E N N E DY P E R S P E C T I V E
The old dog learns new tricks
David Kennedy
Director of Eurescom
kennedy@eurescom.eu
There is a common saying that “you can’t
teach an old dog new tricks”, based on the
idea that many people are unable or unwill-
ing to do things differently, if they have been
doing them one way for a long time.
Big Brother is watching you
As I get older, I find it easier to have an overview
perspective of many of the changes proposed to
us and can see them in the context of the impact
they will have on our lives. I know I am resisting
© AdobeStock
being fully integrated by refusing to have a smart
watch to monitor me as I talk, move and even
sleep. However, I recognised that these capabili- Fight or flight pages make it very difficult to have a clear idea
ties are interesting – even desirable – for others. about their policies as they ask first a general
As I think about it, the question is not black Having learned that systems are profiling me re- question where you either give full permission or
and white – it is more complex in terms of trying gardless of the permissions I gave, the question open a long set of specific questions. The nasty
to understand, where it is of benefit to me to is if you can counteract this or even if you want trick is that if you reject all cookies, they use this
share data and where is it an invasion of my pri- to. I have to admit, I am not totally anti such tar- as the basis for not holding that decision, so the
vacy. For example, I have noticed that there is a geting, but I have limits. I do not allow Siri to be next time you visit their page, you are forced to go
direct correlation between the auctions I look at active on my phone, because she will listen all through the whole charade again. In this way you
on eBay and the ads that get offered to me on the time to see if I need her help. I have been get frustrated and you eventually accept all cook-
Facebook. Clearly these guys are sharing infor- very annoyed to find occasionally in conversation ies to avoid being asked again.
mation. But is this so bad? I was looking for with someone that she was active and listening
something specific on eBay, and if this is avail- from their smart watch or phone and actually What to do
able through Facebook, this is actually helping tried to join in the conversation. This is too intru-
me find what I want. sive. As a confirmed old dog, I think I do have to learn
However, I can’t tell these systems when I However, if I was alone in the house, maybe new tricks to survive in this new world. I could
have actually bought something. This means recovering from illness or injury, I probably would make my life simpler by relaxing and just saying
they keep offering me ads for something I have really appreciate being able to shout at a box to “yes to all” when asked, but I know this will in-
already paid for, which is only going to annoy me do jobs or contact people for me. Again, it comes crease the noise level in my life. What I want to
– particularly if they offer it for a cheaper price down to context and trust. I am obviously pre- do is customise the world to my comfortable level
than I paid. pared to allow some intrusion for a visible bene- of sharing info, but to do this I somehow have to
You can also distort your profile by making a fit. The real problem is that it is very difficult to know enough about how systems work and
purchase for others. I am not sure how my online feel you are in control and can make the right where I am leaving traces and sharing elements
profile changed after I bought a leg waxing kit for choices to choose this. of my profile.
my wife, but I did notice a significant difference Of course, if I had my personal version of Siri,
in the ads I was offered after that. The level of Cookies are not always sweet Alexa or whoever that was clearly mine and not
this profiling is such that when you load a web public, “she” could manage this for me. Maybe
page, there can actually be an online auction of The recent laws on data protection and the use of this is the answer, old dogs need personal ava-
the ad space on the page to product advertisers, cookies to capture the permissions has not tars to learn the new tricks for them.
based on your profile, within the time it takes you helped as much as I would like. First many web
to load the page.
6 Eurescom message Winter 2021
COVER THEME: THE ROAD TO 6G
The road to 6G
An overview
Uwe Herzog
Eurescom
herzog@eurescom.eu
5G networks are currently being deployed
around the globe. Commercial marketing
towards consumers mainly emphasizes un-
precedented bitrates, and vertical indus-
tries look into the potential that 5G could
offer to their type of business. While there is
© AdobeStock
more in 5G than that, and even though more
will still be included with the 5G enhance-
ments that are currently being standardised usual increments, e.g. in bitrates and latency. ICT has however continued to increase its share
with 3GPP Release 17, thinking about what Given the trend to machine-centric communica- in the global carbon emissions. In view of the
to address in a further generation of mobile tions, 6G will also need to be able to handle a ongoing global warming discussions and the in-
communications has started in many re- much larger number of communication end- creasing sense of urgency that can be witnessed
gions of the world. points, i.e. humans and things, and to process very strongly here in Europe and elsewhere, this
the increasing amount of data, in absolute terms topic might still get a relevance for telecom net-
When I talk to people that are not in IT and I men- but also per area. Various technologies can con- work operations that is not expected today.
tion that I am in mobile telecommunications re- tribute to that, but further expanding mm-wave
search, I often see them surprised: to them ev- technology and exploiting it, which is happening Security
erything seems to be there, and maybe most only slowly in 5G at the moment, might be an
noticeable to consumers are the improvements essential element to that end. From the network One theme that I see at risk of not receiving
in handsets that are pushed into the market at design view, efforts will continue to make 6G proper attention is network and service security.
short intervals. They do not see the huge innova- more dynamic and flexible, and, e.g., cloudifica- The theft of 50 million user data at T-Mobile US,
tion and investments that are needed in the mo- tion and disaggregation are ingredients for that. which got known in August 2021, has underlined
bile networks behind the handsets. The question In addition, open APIs – think, e.g., of Open RAN once more how critical it is to have proper secu-
of what will be in 6G as yet another generation is – will likely play a role. A technology that is ex- rity measures in place. The increasing number of
not answered yet. It needs careful consideration pected to receive much attention for 6G is Artifi- hacking attacks that can be observed make it
given the huge efforts and investment that can cial Intelligence (AI). With further improvements clear that this is not a problem that will soon fade
be expected from its introduction. of the technology, an increasing amount of avail- away. Implementing proper security has a cost,
able data and improved training methods, AI but like an insurance, it does not have an imme-
What 6G will add to 5G chipsets, and more, it could become a commod- diately visible benefit nor can it create corre-
ity that it is currently not yet, and can enable sponding additional revenue.
Thinking about what 6G will be, I remember a improvements in many aspects and elements of From a pure cost aspect, one might argue that
presentation by a well-known colleague from TU a 6G network, e.g., to make network manage- it is cheaper to fix an issue rather than imple-
Dresden, I think it was at EuCNC 2019 in Valen- ment and operation more efficient and more se- menting the required security mechanisms, but
cia, where he said – probably with a wink of the cure. the potential damage might go beyond lost reve-
eye – that 6G will be there to fix the issues in 5G. nue. Possibly, strict requirements on trust and
While there is certainly some truth in that, further Cost and energy consumption security from vertical sector users can cause a
innovations will be part of 6G. Many initiatives shift here. However, it will also remain a chal-
have been launched in Europe, the US, China, A strong and overarching design principle for 6G lenge for security research to come up with in-
Japan and other regions, marking the start of a could be to keep cost under control and to re- novative solutions that are cost-efficient yet effec-
6G vision phase. duce energy consumption. Cost has been a re- tive, offering a high degree of automation in line
Several white papers were already published curring aspect in particular for telecom operators with ETSI Zero Touch Management or through
that look into promising technological advances in a low-margin business environment, and lower the use of AI / Machine Learning technologies,
and innovations that are potential candidates for cost is also important for services to be afford- that enable a low threshold for the introduction
adoption in 6G. Which of these will finally make able for end users. Energy consumption and the and operation of security solutions.
it into the standard is difficult to forecast, but one ecological footprint in general have received in-
can certainly expect that with 6G we will see the creasing attention over the past years in which
Eurescom message Winter 2021 7
COVER THEME: THE ROAD TO 6G
Hexa-X and the values of 6G
The European Union’s flagship project on 6G
Peter Merz
Vice President,
Head of Nokia Standards
peter.merz@nokia.com
The world is just at the beginning of the 5G
era, and yet researchers are already diving
into the sixth generation of mobile commu-
nication technologies. The Hexa-X consorti-
um is leading the European 6G effort with a
diverse group of researchers, representing
a broad cross-section of the industry and
academia.
The project is being led by Nokia working closely
with a strong consortium of European partners.
They are preparing the foundation for future proj-
ects to come from the next big European initia-
tive, Smart Network Services from the 5G Infra-
structure Association (5G IA), while working with
teams in other regions to create one 6G global
standard for the world. A bit more than half a 6G three worlds wheel
year into the two-and-a-half-year project, they
have already delivered their vision, use cases and
initial technical analysis for mobile networks in engineering of our carbon-based infrastructures, and 6G. The 5G IA recently published a paper
the 2030s. it must be engineered for minimal impact as well. that outlines its European vision for the 6G net-
Consortium partners are also focused on digi- work ecosystem. Hexa-X made a central contribu-
The Hexa-X 6G vision tal inclusion, arguing that by 2030 connectivity tion with other current EU research to the paper.
will likely be regarded as a basic human right. Continuing the themes of 5G, SNS sees 6G as
Hexa-X takes its name from the Greek for the They believe that the network, if designed prop- continuing to provide a platform for connecting
number 6, with X representing the many, as-yet- erly, can contribute to greater trust, if built on even more things, humans, robots and every
unnamed capabilities of the 6G standard that principals of security, privacy, availability, resil- kind of autonomous vehicle. But it also recogniz-
may emerge. The project is part of the European ience and compliance with ethical frameworks. es the key role the network will play in the evolu-
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation Trust is especially important, as 6G will be at tion of society, as the digital, physical and hu-
program, intended to boost the technical leader- the heart of the new age of automation and arti- man worlds increasingly converge. They also
ship of the EU and ensure that the new standard ficial intelligence. For people to accept the grow- recognize the importance of the European Green
represents the goals and values of the European ing role of machines in our lives, much will have Deal and the drive to achieve climate neutrality
community. Building an ecosystem of business- to be done to communicate the values promoted by 2050.
es, academia and other organizations and key by 6G, as well as ensuring the privacy of data
talent around the new standard will ensure that handling, network intelligence and the trustwor- The importance of a global standard
Europe takes long-term leadership on both fronts. thiness of AI.
In their vision document published earlier this Although a European initiative, the Hexa-X con-
year, the consortium envisions 6G as a key soci- Smart networks and services sortium is clear on the importance of arriving at
etal platform for building efficient and sustain- a global consensus on the 6G standard. It will
able ways of living, ensuring trust, security and In parallel, Hexa-X is also working with the 5G IA strive for openness and collaboration among the
privacy and creating economic prosperity and as it prepares for a broader effort to launch, in European and global research community, stan-
growth. With climate change high on their list of about a year’s time, the Smart Networks and Ser- dardization bodies and policy makers.
priorities, the consortium is especially interested vices (SNS). The SNS European Partnership Competition with regional initiatives is healthy
in improving the energy efficiency of networks. aims to secure European leadership for the de- for driving the development of the best possible
Since 6G will play a crucial role in improving the velopment and deployment of next-generation technologies. However, the days of diverging mo-
efficiency of other systems important to the re- mobile networks. It is focused on 5G evolution bile standards should be behind us. The consor-
8 Eurescom message Winter 2021 © AdobeStock
COVER THEME: THE ROAD TO 6G
tium recognizes that we now live in a global European research projects have been at the understanding of both the performance- and val-
economy with global supply chains, and the inte- forefront of research for many generations of mo- ue-oriented aspects of the technology and how it
gration of our operational systems demands bile networks. This strong experience and track can play a key role in building a more sustain-
global standards. Achieving economies of scale record in collaborative research will be an advan- able, trusting and inclusive world.
is crucial for the success of today’s business tage in achieving 6G leadership. And by present-
models. Going it alone with a European-only ap- ing the values informing their vision for 6G, they Further information
proach would be self-defeating in the long run. hope to bring the rest of the world to a clearer Hexa-X project website – https://hexa-x.eu
AI-driven ubiquitous networks for massive
machine connections
The 6G BRAINS project vision
Yue Zhang
University of Leicester
Yue.Zhang@leicester.ac.uk
Ubiquitous smart wireless connectivity is
critical for future large-scale industrial
tasks, services, assets and devices. Very sig-
nificantly improved connectivity needs to be
unlocked through novel spectrum combina-
tions and the fully autonomous manage-
ment of the underlying network resources
by applying online Artificial Intelligence (AI)
at multiple decision layers. Therefore, it is
required to bring AI-driven Deep Reinforce-
ment learning (DRL) to perform MAC/PHY Figure 1: 6G BRAINS Concept Vision (images: Robert Bosch GmbH)
resource allocation and configuration over
the high dynamic ultra-dense D2D cell free of-concept trials. The primary and secondary ap- Factory of the future
(CF) network with new spectrum links in- plications of THz and OWC technologies for a
cluding THz and optical wireless communi- very broad spectrum of scenarios will be validat- The factory of the future represents one of the
cations (OWC) to enhance the performance ed at BOSCH’s self-contained smart factory. most challenging applications of the future mo-
with regard to capacity, reliability and la- bile communication systems. A large number of
tency for next generation ubiquitous net- Enabling technologies specific use cases representing this scenario
works. have been described in different bodies, includ-
The enabling technologies in 6G BRAINS focus ing 3GPP and 5G-ACIA (5G Alliance for Connect-
The 6G BRAINS project proposes a novel com- on four technological areas: ed Industries and Automation). From the large
prehensive cross-layer DRL driven resource allo- n Enhanced new spectrum links: OWC and THz list of specific use cases in the factory of the fu-
cation solution to support the massive connec- n AI-driven D2D cell free network architecture ture environment, 6G BRAINS identified two use
tions over Device-to-Device (D2D) assisted highly for highly dynamic and ultra-dense connectiv- cases which require further improvement of the
dynamic cell-free network enabled by Sub-6 ity current 5G technology.
GHz/mmWave/THz/OWC and high-resolution n AI-based end-to-end directional network The first use case represents the offloading of
3D Simultaneous Localization and Mapping slicing with guaranteed QoS over highly the control logic from the industrial controller
(SLAM) of up to 1 mm accuracy. The enabling dynamic networks running as part of a production cell on the shop
technologies in 6G BRAINS focus on four major n AI-driven data fusion for 3D indoor position floor to a more centralized computing area called
aspects, including disruptive new spectral links, mapping through heterogeneous location "factory edge" in a virtualized form as a virtual
highly dynamic D2D cell-free network modelling, methods enabling 1 mm location position machine or a container. A more centralized ap-
intelligent end-to-end network architecture inte- accuracy and 1° orientation accuracy. proach, where all controllers (real or virtualized)
grating the multi-agent DRL scheme and AI-en- are placed in the same area will significantly in-
hanced high-resolution 3D SLAM data fusion. crease the flexibility of the production process
The proposed solution will be validated by proof- and reduce the cost. Connecting the production
Eurescom message Winter 2021 9
COVER THEME: THE ROAD TO 6G
Figure 2: 6G BRAINS overall logical architecture
cells through the 6G BRAINS communication Overall logical architecture control plane and the data plane. The data (infra-
system to the “factory edge” shall enable the structure) plane comprises the various end-to-
ease of reconfiguration of hardware and software Figure 2 presents the detailed reference logical end network segments including RAN and other
components on demand. This use case sets very architecture of 6G BRAINS. It highlights that the wireless networks, such as CF, D2D and IAB (In-
high expectations on the guaranteed latency and AI loops can take place at the global level or at tegrated Access and Backhaul). The simulation/
deterministic communication that should sup- each local level. The overall architecture includes emulation/AI training plane is introduced to in-
port low industrial application cycle times and monitoring plane, cognitive plane, control plane, corporate 6G BRAINS components that are es-
very precise synchronicity. management and orchestration plane, data sential for the R&D targets but are mainly re-
Another use case is represented by wireless plane, simulation/emulation/AI training plane quired for offline or design phases, rather than
video cameras that are easily deployed in every and PHY/MAC plane of the user equipment online and operational phases. The UE PHY/
factory production cell at different locations to (UE). MAC plane accommodates the functional blocks
send high-quality and high-frame-rate video to an The monitoring plane interacts with the other for the UE physical and MAC aspects focusing on
image-analysing system located at the “factory planes (data plane, control plane, etc.) to collect a simulation approach.
edge”. By this, a new level of production monitor- and monitor functional and performance param-
ing is unleashed enabling a long list of new fea- eters, including KPIs. Based on the inputs from Outlook
tures, such as anomaly detection, improved the monitoring plane, the cognitive plane analy-
safety, process tracking and logging, remote con- ses the system and makes decisions to offer in- The technologies developed in 6G BRAINS will be
trol, and predictive maintenance. This use case telligent operational strategies such as optimising widely applicable to various vertical sectors such
has high requirements on the data rate, consum- resource allocation and deployment inputs to the as Industry 4.0, intelligent transportation,
ing up to 3 Gbps per camera in case of state-of- relevant RL-driven modules such as RAN slicing eHealth, and more. In particular, new business
the-art industrial camera systems. and CF scheduling, maintaining the normal op- opportunities emerging in 6G BRAINS will be
Finally, the combination of these two use cas- eration of the system in the case of faults/fail- identified for follow-up exploitation activities. The
es represents a very challenging approach for a ures, and improving the performance in the case results of 6G BRAINS are expected to create a
system that is required to provide a precise QoS of suboptimal operations. solid basis for future projects and global stan-
differentiation by, e.g., creating individual slices The cognitive plane outputs its intelligent deci- dardisation for beyond 5G and 6G technologies
for each of the required services. The 6G BRAINS sions to other planes for actions to be applied. in areas relevant to industrial environments.
concept vision is illustrated in Figure 1. The control plane is called on demand, to en-
force real-time actions decided by the cognitive
plane via the RL policy adapter. The manage- Further information
ment and orchestration plane provides the man- 6G BRAINS project website –
agement interface for other planes, especially the https://6g-brains.eu
10 Eurescom message Winter 2021COVER THEME: THE ROAD TO 6G
Global initiatives towards 6G
A review of the current status
and others have published their own visions of International activities
6G or channelled their opinions through alliances
and collaborations like the NGMN Alliance (Next Other world regions have published their own 6G
Generation Mobile Networks Alliance). The com- visions and partly have launched similarly ambi-
Anastasius Gavras mon denominator is that they put the technology tious programmes. Japan’s NICT has released
Eurescom evolution in the context of resolving societal is- white papers on beyond 5G/6G and quantum
gavras@eurescom.eu sues. networks. Reported plans for China state ambi-
Emerging commonalities in the use cases can tions for commercialisation of 6G technologies by
Not much is defined yet around 6G. It is be seen for the areas of extreme reality, holo- 2030. In the U.S., the alliance for telecommuni-
hard to draw the line between 5G and 6G, graphic applications, precision sensing and ac- cations industry solutions (ATIS), a telecom stan-
and the nomenclature of 3GPP defining 5G tuation, human machine interfaces, and digital dards body, launched the Next G Alliance in
enhancements and 5G advanced capabili- replicas of physical world artefacts. 2020 to advance North American leadership in
ties from Release 17 to Release 20 does not 6G. South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT
help in clarifying the borders between the Programmes and initiatives established a 6G research and development im-
generations either. Resolving this requires a plementation plan that calls for investing around
consensus about the societal, market and In general, I observe that many formulated vi- 200 million dollars by 2025. Finally, the Europe-
operational needs that the 6th generation sions are positioning 6G as a tool that must ad- an Space Agency has started a study for a space-
mobile network should meet and that clear- dress the societal needs and the sustainable de- based infrastructure, which, albeit carrying 5G in
ly go beyond what 5G can deliver today or velopment goals (SDGs) formulated by the its name, has a long-term ambition to embrace
will deliver in the next few years. United Nations. The 5G PPP project Hexa-X is emerging 6G concepts.
one of the main efforts to develop so-called key
In this context, it is worthwhile analysing the value indicators (KVIs), derived from the SDGs, Outlook
plethora of 6G white papers that have been pub- and finally to translate these into concrete techni-
lished. The motivation for these white papers is cal requirements and performance indicators for The list of existing initiatives, white papers, pro-
driven by research interest, company expecta- designing the 6th generation mobile network. grammes and plans is much longer, and many
tions, or long-term government plans aiming to The same path has been established by the 6G more initiatives are underway. Global conver-
establish a long-term roadmap. However, it is Drivers and Visions white paper published by the gence on visions, requirements and roadmaps
very difficult at this stage to conclude on a single NGMN Alliance, which sets the basic framework has already started in alliances and forums that
unified landscape of needs, requirements and for the formulation of 6G use cases and is work will propagate in the next few years into the main
expectations. In addition, several funding agen- in progress. standards body, namely 3GPP. We should expect
cies around the world have started to fund proj- The latest batch of 5G PPP projects started in exciting developments on all fronts and from all
ects and initiatives on 6G. the beginning of 2021 in the scope of beyond regions. Of particular importance to Europe is,
5G. These projects address a variety of technol- whether the efforts become instrumental to meet
White papers ogy topics ranging from new waveforms, channel high-level policy objectives, such as those formu-
propagation models for THz frequencies, accu- lated in the context of the Green New Deal, the
One of the first 6G white papers that received rate positioning, energy efficiency, extreme reli- UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Eu-
global attention was published in 2019 by the ability, extreme bandwidth transport, in-network ropean technological sovereignty discussion.
University of Oulu in Finland. The initiative computing for artificial intelligence and machine
evolved into the 6G Flagship, which is today fa- learning, and many others.
cilitating the work of 12 expert groups on select- The Horizon Europe programme puts the work Further information
ed 6G topics with the goal of consolidating opin- on 6G under the heading Smart Networks and n 6G Flagship – https://www.oulu.fi/
ions and publishing them in a series of 6G white Services (SNS), which is planned to be launched 6gflagship/
papers. According to the 6G Flagship, more than shortly with the establishment of the SNS Joint n Hexa-X project – https://hexa-x.eu/
250 experts from 100 organisations in over 30 Undertaking. The targeted public research and n NGMN Alliance – https://www.ngmn.org/
countries contributed to the 6G Flagship white innovation investment is 900 million euro over n 5G PPP Smart connectivity beyond 5G
papers. the budget period 2021-2027. The German gov- projects – https://5g-ppp.eu/5g-ppp-phase-3-
Ericsson outlines in its white papers a combi- ernment has launched a large 6G programme 6-projects/
nation of technology push, expectations pull and with an estimated budget in excess of 600 mil- n 5G-IS 5G system infrastructure study
new emerging use cases. Nokia defines the tech- lion euro in the period 2021-2025. An initial por- – https://artes.esa.int/projects/5gis
nological areas that will require significant ad- tion of estimated 200 million euro has already
vances to meet 6G requirements. Samsung pro- been granted to several large projects called 6G
vides an initial set of key performance indicators hubs with the ambition of creating the basis for
and how they compare to 5G. Many telecommu- an innovation ecosystem for future communica-
nication operators like Deutsche Telekom, BT, tion technologies around 6G.
Vodafone, Orange, China Mobile, NTT Docomo
Eurescom message Winter 2021 11COVER THEME: THE ROAD TO 6G
Commercial 6G launch expected by 2030
Interview with Peter Merz from Nokia
While 5G is still being rolled out, prepara- European R&D on 6G started in 2020.
tions for 6G are gaining speed. That raises Where do we stand now?
questions about the path towards 6G, and
why we need 6G in the first place. Eurescom Peter Merz: In general, countries and regions
message editor-in-chief Milon Gupta asked around the world make investments in all areas
Peter Merz, Head of Nokia Standards, of technology and innovation. In January 2021,
about it. Mr. Merz is responsible for Nokia the European Commission 6G flagship research
Standards including related standards re- project Hexa-X, which is being led by Nokia, was
search activities in areas like radio/RAN, officially kicked off. Being a 2.5-year project with-
core, network management and automa- in the EU’s Horizon 2020 ICT-52 program, Hexa-
tion as well as network security. X displays European leadership in 6G, and Euro-
pean research projects have been at the forefront
of research for many generations of mobile net-
Why do we need 6G? works. This strong experience and track record in
collaborative research will be an advantage in
Peter Merz: Wireless technologies are of critical Peter Merz achieving European 6G leadership.
relevance for our society and economy today; Horizon Europe will make 900 million euro in
their importance for economic growth, wealth funding available for 6G by the end of the year.
and sustainability will continue to steadily in- Improvements in uplink capacity and handling of This is complemented by dedicated substantial
crease with 5G and its evolution, enabling new mobility will be combined with the inherent high 6G funding programs in Germany, France and
ecosystems and services motivated by growing data rate and low latency capabilities of 5G to Finland.
traffic and trillions of devices. create a fully immersive user experience while on
Human intelligence will be augmented in the the move. It will also bring innovations for im-
world of 2030 by being tightly coupled and proved coverage, resilient timing services that will How will 6G change the ICT landscape and
seamlessly intertwined with the network and facilitate diverse new services, enhanced low- vertical industry sectors?
digital technologies. This will call for a shift in the cost massive IoT, and further support for non-
way communication networks are designed. terrestrial networks (NTN) and drones. Peter Merz: 5G is the first system designed to
While 5G enables us to consume digital media 6G will go even further, calling for a change in make inroads into the industrial environment,
anywhere, anytime, future technology should en- the way communication networks are designed. and the transformation to Industry 4.0 featuring
able us to embed ourselves in entire virtual or Multiple key requirements must be reconciled: the first wave of wireless-enabled automation will
digital worlds. serve the massively growing traffic and the ex- already have happened well before 2030. 5G net-
ploding numbers of devices and markets, while works providing ultra-reliable low-latency commu-
also accomplishing the highest possible stan- nications (URLLC) will have facilitated real-time
What are the benefits of 6G compared dards regarding energy efficiency, strong securi- processing in the cloud. However, special indus-
to 5G-Advanced? ty, and efficiency in coverage and operation, for trial use cases relying on much more extreme re-
enabling sustainable growth in a trustworthy way. quirements for wireless communication will re-
Peter Merz: 5G-Advanced will further develop 5G quire 6G to augment 5G.
to its fullest capabilities over the coming decade.
3GPP timeline of 5G to 6G releases
12 Eurescom message Winter 2021CELTIC News 2/2021
The newsletter of EUREKA Cluster CELTIC-NEXT
Public Authority Profile
The Portuguese National Innovation Agency
Eureka
Interview with Eureka chairman Miguel Bello
Mora
Project Highlights
CyberWi – Cyber-security in the Wireless
Industrial use caseC E LT I C N e w s
Table of Contents
CELTIC Chair’s Corner Join the Industry-Driven Research
Towards the Eureka Clusters Programme Launch
– A New Era of Joint Thematic Calls .................... 3
Programme for a Smart Connected World
Public Authority Profile CELTIC-NEXT Call for Project Proposals – Deadline: 14th of April 2022
How Portugal supports CELTIC-NEXT projects
– The Portuguese National Innovation Agency . 4 Do not miss the opportunity to participate in CELTIC-NEXT, the
industry-driven European ICT and telecommunications research
Eureka
programme under the umbrella of Eureka. Submission deadline
Eureka − A major tool to promote research and
for the next call for project proposals is 14th of April 2022.
innovation: Interview with Eureka chairman
Miguel Bello Mora ................................................. 5
CELTIC-NEXT projects are collaborative private-public partnership R&D projects.
Project Highlights All Eureka member countries and associated countries can financially support
CyberWi – Cyber-security in the Wireless them. More information on public funding and national contacts per country can
Industrial use case ................................................ 6 be found on the CELTIC-NEXT Public Authorities Website. Please talk to your
national contact early in the process.
Update from the CELTIC Office
An exciting year of transition and renewal Easy proposal process
for CELTIC-NEXT – New ambitions and new
Preparing and submitting a CELTIC-NEXT project proposal is easy. Just register via
roadmap ............................................................... 7
the CELTIC-NEXT online proposal tool, fill in the Web forms, and upload your
proposal in pdf. Access to the proposal tool and to a proposal template is avail-
able via our Call Information page (https://www.celticnext.eu/call-information).
Benefits of participating in CELTIC-NEXT
› You are free to define your project proposal according to your own research
interests and priorities.
› Your proposal is not bound by any call texts, as long as it is within the ICT/
telecommunications area.
› CELTIC-NEXT projects are close to the market and have a track record of
exploiting their results soon after the end of the project.
› High-quality proposals have an excellent chance of receiving funding, with an
average success rate higher than 50 %.
› The results of the evaluation will already be known in May 2022.
If you have any questions or need help, do not hesitate to contact us; we would
be pleased to support you.
IMPRINT
CELTIC Office Contact:
Xavier Priem CELTIC-NEXT Office
CELTIC Office Director Xavier Priem
c/o Eurescom GmbH office@celticnext.eu
Wieblinger Weg 19/4 Website: www.celticnext.eu
69123 Heidelberg, Germany
Phone: +49 6221 989 138
Email: office@celticnext.eu
2 CELTIC News 2/2021C E LT I C C H A I R ’ S C O R N E R
What living in interesting times means
for CELTIC-NEXT
David Kennedy
CELTIC-NEXT Chair Person
kennedy@eurescom.eu
© AdobeStock
In common folklore it is often unclear, if
the wish “may you live in interesting times”
is intended as a curse or a blessing. Either once you start supplying this information, lays and interactions in the project decisions
way, it can mean that you experience a lot the supply must be continuous and reliable as the Clusters combined resources. The
of change and you need to remain active and and economical. Despite the increasing re- next step in this development we hope to
responsive to the changes to ensure that you quirement for pervasive communications, see now is a reduction in the overall time to
progress positively. Well, for the CELTIC-NEXT we are also under pressure to ensure the decision for Eureka projects and that this ex-
community the recent times have been very sustainability of communications by lower- perience can also be used to improve the
interesting with lots of changes impacting ing the power consumption of all elements throughput of the regular Cluster “bottom-
every aspect of our domain. of the network. up” calls.
In summary, the new outlook for the ICT The new flexibility has increased the op-
CELTIC-NEXT in the new post-Covid domain is that we have to provide incredible erational costs for the Clusters, but it is an-
world speed and reliability for the connections for ticipated that it should stimulate more
low cost with a very low environmental pro- national investment in the new joint topics
One interesting aspect of the way we all re- file. Clearly there are many challenges in which will increase the overall volume of the
structured our lives and work in the “lock- this. programme. This increase in research proj-
down” period is that we have rapidly learned ect volume should compensate for the in-
to do many things remotely. This creates a CELTIC-NEXT and the New Eureka creased costs to keep the ECP instrument
very significant shift from travelling and meet- Clusters Programme efficient and practical. We in CELTIC-NEXT
ing to using communications to stay in contact have heavily invested in the new structure
via webinars and videoconferencing. In fact, In the past two years the CELTIC-NEXT Cluster and we are now looking forward to see how
we have learned that many meetings are no has worked with the other Eureka Clusters to the programme volumes evolve.
longer necessary, if the participants have reli- help evolve the Eureka Clusters Programme
able communications of sufficient capacities. (ECP). The idea is to revitalise the instrument, Conclusion
The issue here is that we have proved the con- as an effective and efficient international re-
cept for remote working – even if we were search collaboration tool and to stimulate From the CELTIC-NEXT perspective we remain
forced into it without any preparation – to the more involvement and investments. committed to embracing the changes and us-
extent where it is unlikely that we will ever jus- The approach was to consider the pro- ing them to help us better serve our commu-
tify the amount of travel and meetings we had cesses and see where the programme could nity. The origin of the CELTIC community was
in 2019 going forward. be more responsive to the ever-changing set the need to bring the digital communications
The impact of this on business processes of research and innovation requirements benefits to the world. This has evolved to the
is that the integration of high-speed high- and priorities facing industrial and national point where the vertical communities are now
capacity communications infrastructures in- interests. A key result is the introduction of informed and active regarding the benefits
to both the production and use of many joint calls operated collectively by the rele- advanced communications can bring to their
advanced products is now assured and the vant Clusters while presenting a consistent domains that they are now becoming drivers
communications technologies must deliver. and seamless interface to the project pro- of the changes in the communications infra-
A good example will be the advanced traf- posers and the national authorities. To dem- structures and services too.
fic management on the roads and the intro- onstrate the new flexibility of the Clusters, We do live in interesting times, and CELT-
duction of autonomous cars. In this context the first joint call – the AI call 2020 – was IC-NEXT remains committed to helping all
all road users need to be equally informed launched and run successfully. The lessons parts of industry and society to embrace
about changing circumstances on the road learned included greater collaboration be- and benefit from advanced communica-
and, more specifically, any safety risks. And tween Clusters and more analysis of the de- tions.
CELTIC News 2/2021 3PUBLIC AUTHORITY PROFILE
How Portugal supports CELTIC-NEXT projects
The Portuguese National Innovation Agency
scal incentives programmes to promote pri-
fi cala Europeia”, 11 new CELTIC projects were
vate investment in R&D and to foster collab- recently funded, reflecting a total investment
orative R&D between companies and R&D from the Portuguese entities involved of 7 mil-
institutions for an effective transfer of knowl- lion euro and corresponding to approximately
edge to the market. ANI also promotes the in- 4.5 million euro of public funding.
ternationalisation of Portuguese innovative The Portuguese entities most represented
companies and R&D institutions through sup- in CELTIC-NEXT projects include companies
porting their participation in the Horizon Eu- such as UBIWHERE Lda, CELFINET - CONSUL-
rope R&DI Framework Programme as well as TORIA EM TELECOMUNICAÇÕES, S.A., Proef
Rita Silva other international networks for R&D cooper- Eurico Ferreira S.A., GLINTT Healthcare Solu-
ANI – Agência Nacional de Inovação, SA ation and business internationalisation such tions S.A., Wavecom – Soluções Radio S.A.,
rita.silva@ani.pt as the Enterprise Europe Network and the Eu- and renowned research centres like Instituto
reka Network. de Telecomunicações, Instituto Superior de
Portugal has now for the third time since Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), or Instituto Poli-
ANI – Agência Nacional de Inovação, SA, is the becoming one of the 18 founding member técnico de Castelo Branco.
National Innovation Agency of Portugal. It is states of the Eureka Network in 1985 taken CELTIC-NEXT projects with Portuguese
owned in equal shares by IAPMEI – the Portu- over the Chairmanship of Eureka from July participation focus on several ICT areas such
guese Agency for Competitiveness and Inno- 2021 until June 2022. ANI is part of the Chair- as energy efficiency and quality of service/ex-
vation under the Ministry of the Economy manship Team, hosting the National Eureka perience in mobile telecommunications net-
and Digital Transition – and FCT – the Portu- office. works, smart operations optimization and
guese Foundation for Science and Technol- performance monitoring in mobile telecom-
ogy under the Ministry of Science, Technology FACTS about Portuguese participation munications networks, healthcare, smart cit-
and Higher Education. ANI supports techno- in CELTIC- NEXT projects ies, and internet of the future. Their main
logical and business innovation in Portugal, partner countries are Spain, France, Finland,
contributing to the consolidation of the The EUREKA Clusters prove to be an excellent Sweden, Turkey, Canada, Korea, and Israel.
national innovation system and to strength- channel for the internationalisation of Portu- As an added-value of participating in
ening the competitiveness of the national guese companies, academia, RTOs and re- CELTIC-NEXT projects, Portuguese entities re-
economy in global markets. search centres enabling them to access to port an overall increase in competitiveness
global value chains, to new knowledge and to levels through the possibility to access new
In 2020, Portugal reached a 1,6% R&D share of partner with numerous countries. In fact, the markets, to improve their positioning in global
national GDP, an all-time high. 57% of R&D opportunity offered by the Eureka Network value chains, an increase in exports, improve-
funding comes from companies’ investments. and the Clusters projects to collaborate be- ment in R&DI capacities and gain of new ex-
There are around 4,300 R&D-performing yond Europe on a truly global stage is one of pertise through the possibility to employ
companies investing an average of 420,000 the major benefits identified by companies. highly qualified human resources and lastly,
euro per year to develop new technologies. CELTIC-NEXT is the Eureka Cluster with the enlargement of the company’s product
the largest Portuguese participation. This is portfolio and cross-selling of solutions.
Portugal’s innovation strategy related to the fact that the technological area
with the largest Portuguese participation in › Further information
Along this path, an ambitious national strate- EUREKA projects is electronics, IT and tele- ANI website – https://www.ani.pt/en
gy for technological and entrepreneurial inno- coms technology (62 %).
vation for the period 2018-2030 has been Between 2008-2020, 31 CELTIC
defined. It includes main targets such as projects with Portuguese partici-
achieving a global investment in R&D of 3% of pation were funded. Since 2017,
GDP by 2030, with a relative share of two with the introduction of a grant-
thirds coming from private expenditure, as based funding instrument relying
well as becoming a European leader in digital on European Structural and In-
skills by 2030. From 2021 to 2027, Portugal vestment Funds (ESIF) to support
aims to double the Portuguese participation Eureka and Eurostars projects,
in European Union funding programmes, and the funding of Eureka Clusters
to attract around 2 billion euros for R&I, as projects has become more agile
well as tripling the number of students in mo- and stable in Portugal. This has
bility in higher education, compared to 2014- raised interest and created re-
2020. newed dynamics among stake-
ANI has a central role in the Portuguese in- holders to apply and participate.
novation ecosystem and contributes to the Under the new instrument
achievement of the major national innovation “Projetos de I&D Industrial à Es-
goals. The Agency manages financial and ANI headquarters in Porto
4 CELTIC News 2/2021INTERVIEW
Eureka − A major tool to promote research
and innovation
Interview with Eureka chairman Miguel Bello Mora
On 1st July, Portugal took over the Eureka How would you describe the progress
chairmanship for one year – already for the of Eureka in the first months of the
third time in the 35-year history of Eureka. Portuguese chairmanship?
The motto of the Portuguese Chairmanship is
“Innovation for a greener, digital and health- Miguel Bello Mora: During the first months of
ier planet through a collaborative approach”. the Eureka Portuguese chairmanship some of
CELTIC News editor Milon Gupta asked the strategic priorities have been implement-
Eureka chairman Miguel Bello Mora, CEO of ed, like the collaboration with the European
the Atlantic International Research Centre in Space Agency, where a Memorandum of Un-
Portugal, about priorities and progress of derstanding is in preparation, and the first of
Eureka after the first quarter of the Portu- the international events on “Eureka meets the
guese Eureka term. Atlantic through Space-Ocean-Earth collabor-
ative innovations”. In addition, the final pro-
What are the main priorities of the posal for the Eurostars 3 programme, one of
Portuguese Eureka chairmanship? the flagship projects of Eureka, has been com-
pleted in August.
Miguel Bello Mora: We have five main priori- And fifth, to continue the necessary re-
ties for the Portuguese Eureka chairmanship: structuring of the Eureka Secretariat and What is your vision for Eureka and its
First, to increase the global outreach of the pursue a healthy financial model for the programmes beyond the Portuguese
Eureka Network by promoting collaboration Eureka Secretariat. chairmanship?
with international organizations with an im-
portant innovation component, like the Euro- Which role do you see for the Eureka Miguel Bello Mora: Our vision beyond the
pean Space Agency, and via the organization Clusters Programme in the context of Portuguese Chairmanship is to have Eureka as
of a series of international events. the Portuguese priorities? a major tool to promote research and innova-
Second, to enhance new forms of coop- tion, strengthening the bottom-up, open and
eration for effective RDI programmes by Miguel Bello Mora: The Portuguese chairman- flexible nature of the network by building on
strengthening the relation with the Europe- ship is contributing to the revitalization of the the work done by the previous Chairmanships
an Union within the new Horizon Europe Eureka Clusters Programme by implementing while following the strategic priorities of the
framework programme for research, devel- the new governance model, ensuring greater recently approved Eureka Strategic Roadmap
opment, and innovation. compromise from public authorities on the for 2021-2027.
Third, strengthening the Eureka Net- funding of projects, intensifying the participa- Eureka shall promote the dynamism of
work’s positioning by reinforcing the mecha- tion of industrial key players at the board of the economy and European innovation
nisms for the generation of projects, Clusters’ governance structures and promot- through the recovery period from the crisis
contributing to the revitalization of the ing collaboration and cross-fertilisation be- associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and
Eureka Clusters Programme. tween Clusters through the organisation of should stimulate new opportunities for the
Fourth, adding value to the Eureka label, joint calls. development of new products and services
with the organisation of Eureka’s Global A joint thematic call is promoted with a in global markets, as well as new internation-
Innovation Summit 2022 and the Eureka topic focused on Space-Ocean-Earth Obser- al collaborations towards citizens wellbeing
Ministerial Meeting in Portugal in June 2022. vation Systems and Space related technolo- and healthy living.
gies which would include the promotion of
projects linked with the Green Deal in areas
like Earth Observation from Space and its
combination with Artificial Intelligence.
CELTIC News 2/2021 5You can also read
